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ARTSBEAT; Led Zeppelin to Release a Concert Film

By JAMES C. MCKINLEY JR.

Published: September 14, 2012

Led Zeppelin, the hard-rock and seminal heavy metal band, will release a concert movie in October, just two months before the band is scheduled to be honored at the Kennedy Center in Washington for its weighty role in transforming rock music.

The film, "Celebration Day," depicts the tribute concert the band gave at London's O2 Arena in December 2007 for Ahmet Ertegun, a founder of Atlantic Records. The concert was to raise money for an educational charity Mr. Ertegun had supported before his death a year earlier.">

Led Zeppelin, the hard-rock and seminal heavy metal band, will release a concert movie in October, just two months before the band is scheduled to be honored at the Kennedy Center in Washington for its weighty role in transforming rock music.

The film, "Celebration Day," depicts the tribute concert the band gave at London's O2 Arena in December 2007 for Ahmet Ertegun, a founder of Atlantic Records. The concert was to raise money for an educational charity Mr. Ertegun had supported before his death a year earlier.

The three surviving members - the guitarist Jimmy Page, the singer Robert Plant and the bassist John Paul Jones - were joined that night on drums by Jason Bonham, the son of the group's original drummer, John Bonham, who died in 1980. During a two-hour show, the band played 16 of their hits, including "Whole Lotta Love," "Rock and Roll" and "Stairway to Heaven." Only about 18,000 of the 20 million people who had entered a lottery to get tickets saw the concert.

But it was filmed. The group plans to have the premiere of the movie, directed by Dick Carruthers, in London, Los Angeles and New York, then release it to about 1,500 theaters around the world on Oct. 17. Then "Celebration Day" will be marketed in various video and audio formats on Nov. 19. Tickets to public screenings will go on sale on Sept. 13 on led-zeppelin.com.

This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.

PHOTO (PHOTOGRAPH BY KEVIN WESTENBERG/GETTY IMAGES)

Led Zeppelin, the hard-rock and seminal heavy metal band, will release a concert movie in October, just two months before the band is scheduled to be honored at the Kennedy Center in Washington for its weighty role in transforming rock music.

The film, "Celebration Day," depicts the tribute concert the band gave at London's O2 Arena in December 2007 for Ahmet Ertegun, a founder of Atlantic Records. The concert was to raise money for an educational charity Mr. Ertegun had supported before his death a year earlier.">